Critical Violations at Two Falls Church Restaurants

In Virginia, restaurant inspection reports are not quite as simple as getting a letter grade or an easy-to-see number rating to post in the front window.

With that said, we all want to know how our favorite restaurants stack up on cleanliness and sanitation.

A "critical violation" is one that "poses a direct or immediate threat to the safety of the food being served." Non-critical violations are generally related to cleaning or maintenance.

"Ideally, an operation would have no critical violations, or none which are not corrected immediately and not repeated. In our experience, it is unrealistic to expect that a complex, full-service food operation can routinely avoid any violations," according to the Virginia Department of Health's website.

The site continues: "Keep in mind that any inspection report is a 'snapshot' of the day and time of the inspection. On any given day, a restaurant could have fewer or more violations than noted in the report. An inspection conducted on any given day may not be representative of the overall, long-term cleanliness of an establishment."

In the past month, the following Falls Church restaurants have been inspected by the VDH. The full reports can be accessed on the health department's website.

Burger King

700 W. Broad St., Falls Church

Inspected April 5: no critical or non-critical violations

No violations were found during the inspection.

Chevy’s Fresh Mex

3052 Gate House Plaza, Falls Church

Inspected April 5: two critical violations, no non-critical violations

The following food item(s) were observed cold holding at improper temperatures using a calibrated food temperature measuring device: Pico de gallo in 3 door prep cooler top, pineapple salsa in 2 door prep cooler top, pico de gallo in 2 door prep cooler bottom; raw shrimp/raw salmon/raw marinated chicken/raw marinated beef in 2 drawer cooler next to grill. NOTE: PIC relocated pico de gallo and pineapple salsa to walk-in cooler, ice was added to top drawer with raw salmon and shrimp, and marinated chicken and beef were relocated to the 2 door prep cooler bottom.

McDonald’s

6729 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church

Inspected April 5: three critical violations, one non-critical violation

Observed the hand sink by the ice machine is being used as a dump sink.